ARTICLES ABOUT BOEING BY DATE - PAGE 5

MUMBAI: Gulf carrier Etihad tonight said it plans to take on lease two Boeing 777-300 ER aircraft from India's Jet Airways, in which it holds 24 per cent stake. The Abu Dhabi-based carrier scotched speculation that it was not interested in leasing planes from its foreign equity partner in India. "We already have two Boeing 777-300ERs and two Airbus A330-200s in operations under dry lease from Jet Airways and are finalising plans to introduce further two aircraft before the end of the year," Etihad said in a statement.

MUMBAI: Jet Airways' foreign equity partner, UAE-based Etihad, has dropped its plan to lease three Boeing 777 aircraft from the airline, putting the domestic carrier in a difficult situation, sources said. These aircraft, B 777-300 ERs, were with the Turkish Airlines and have recently come back to Jet Airways after completing the lease period, an airline source told PTI here. "Etihad had earlier sought to lease these aircraft as it wanted to deploy them on its international network.

ATLANTA: British carrier Virgin Atlantic is likely to start flying one of its brand new Boeing Dreamliner 787-900 planes to Delhi from the summer schedule next year, a senior executive said Friday. "We currently fly one of our Airbus A330s to Delhi. That will be replaced by the new 787-9s," Joe Thompson, director, network and alliances told reporters on the sidelines of a press conference. He said this will give the airline's Indian passengers a better product than its current flight, although it won't lead to a net increase in capacity.

NEW YORK: US aerospace giant Boeing reported higher quarterly earnings on Wednesday and raised its full-year profit forecast for the third quarter in a row on increased commercial aircraft deliveries. Earnings for the third quarter came in at $1.36 billion, up 17.6 percent from the year-ago period. Key drivers included a jump to 186 commercial aircraft deliveries, up from 170 in the 2013 period. Boeing booked 501 net orders during the quarter, with Irish carrier Ryanair signing a deal for 100 Boeing 737 jets.

CHENNAI: Commemorating its 90th year of service in India, British Airways would induct another Boeing 787 Dreamliner in its service on the Chennai-London route, a top official said today. Currently, British Airways operates Boeing 787 Dreamliner aircraft on the Hyderabad-London route. "This year we are celebrating 90 years of flying into India. After successful launch of the Boeing 787 Dreamliner on the Hyderabad-London sector, we are adding another Boeing 787 Dreamliner aircraft on the Chennai and London route," British Airways Regional Commercial Manager (South Asia)

NEW DELHI: The next time you board an aircraft, do not be surprised on hearing in-flight announcements asking you to contribute for building toilets or on being shown a video on cleanliness drives. The directorate general of civil aviation (DGCA) has directed Indian carriers to spread awareness on the government's Swachh Bharat Abhiyan through in-flight announcements and boarding cards. Airlines have been asked to seek donations from flyers and spread the word on their websites.

NEW YORK: Defence major Boeing today proposed greater business engagement with India, as Prime Minister Narendra Modi promised the US companies to provide friendlier business environment in the country. In a one-on-one meeting with Modi, Boeing CEO James McNerney said that the company wants to accelerate its engagement with India. The meeting followed a power-packed breakfast meet Modi had with CEOs of other 11 large American corporations including PepsiCo, Citigroup, Google, Cargill and Carlyle Group.

NEW DELHI: The chief executive officers of six top US companies including Boeing and General Electric will have separate one-on-one meetings with Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Washington early next week, hoping to hear about his government's plan to create a conducive business environment and explore opportunities to increase their footprint in India. Goldman Sachs Chairman and CEO Lloyd C Blankfein , Boeing Chairman and CEO W James McNerney Jr, BlackRock Chairman and CEO Laurence D Fink, IBM Chairman and CEO Ginni Rometty, General Electric Chairman and CEO Jeff Immelt and Kohlberg Kravis Roberts co-Chairmen and CEOs Henry R Kravis and George R Roberts will have separate meetings with Modi on his maiden visit to the US as Prime Minister, Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Syed Akaruddin told reporters.

SINGAPORE: South Asia is expected to add 1,750 new airplanes worth $230 billion between 2014-2033, according to a projection by Boeing here today. The South Asian markets would account for 13 per cent in volume and 11 per cent in value of the total 13,460 aircraft worth $2 trillion to be bought by the Asia Pacific region during the 20 year period. Overall, Asia Pacific would account for 37 per cent of the number and 39 per cent of the value of the total 36,770 new airplanes worth $5.2 trillion to be added to the global fleet during 2014-2033, said the airplane group . China would top the list of investors in airplanes, accounting for 6,020 or 45 per cent of the 13,460 airplanes to be purchased by airlines in Asia Pacific during 2014-2033.

WASHINGTON: American aerospace giant Boeing seems set to win a multibillion-dollar contract to build space taxis for NASA that will ferry astronauts to and from orbit. The Wall Street Journal quoted US government and aerospace-industry officials as saying that Boeing may well be the winner of the competition to build the spacecraft, potentially beating its two rivals, including SpaceX. SpaceX had been considered a favourite because of its lower costs and nimbler approach, the report said.